Sunday, March 4, 2012

Day 29: Fortune Cookies

We were invited over for dinner by good friends of ours that happen to be moving to China this year. I have been getting quite confident in my cookie making abilities and decided to attempt to make Fortune Cookies. The boys and I printed and cut out fortunes and I found a seeming do-able recipe in Martha Stewart's Cookie book (that a freind recently gave me).

I mixed the batter and followed the directions, however shaping the foutune cookies was a lot harder then I expected. The cookies were very hot to touch and if I waited too long the cookies would be impossible to shape. I was so frusterated!! I mananged to shape some sad looking fortune cookies, then decided to try a different approach.

My mother had sent me a picture that showed a way to make cookie cups. Using the bottom side of a muffin tin bake the cookies on top. When you are done you have cookie cups. Brilliant!!

After failing to produce fortune cookies, I decided to try this technique.

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Once the cookie cups baked I ended up with a disaster. I must have not used enough non stick spray, and the cookies would not "pop" off like the above picture showed.

So I had not only failed once but TWICE the same day.

I did manange to spare a few cookies. I crushed them up and put them in a little bowl. ﻿

I may try to redeem myself in the future. For now, I'm going to leave the fortune cookie making to the professionals like Martha.

For those who would like a challenge (or are just crazy) here is the recipe I used.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine egg whites and sugar, and beat on medium speed, about 30 seconds.

Add flour and salt, and beat until combined. Add butter, heavy cream, and almond extract, and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.

Pour 1 tablespoon of batter onto half of the baking sheet, and spread with the back of a spoon into a thin 5-inch circle; repeat on the other half of the sheet. Bake until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown, about 8 minutes.

Transfer baking sheet to a heat-resistant surface. Working as quickly as possible, slide a spatula (an offset spatula, available at specialty kitchen shops, works best) under one of the cookies. Lift it up, and place it on a clean kitchen towel.

Using your fingers, fold the cookie in half, pinching the top together to form a loose semicircle. Hold the cookie with your index fingers inserted at each open end, and slide your thumbs together along the bottom line. Press into the center of the cookie while bending the two open ends together and down to form the shape of a fortune cookie. This whole process should take about 10 seconds. Once the cookie hardens, which begins to happen almost immediately, you cannot fold it. Place the fortune cookie on the kitchen towel to cool.

Sad, I know.

Repeat until all the batter is used up. To speed up the process, bake four cookies at a time, staggering two cookie sheets by 4 minutes to give you time to shape. To avoid wasting batter, practice folding with a circle of paper first.

Write your message on a long strip of sturdy art paper, such as Japanese moriki. Thread the fortune through the cookie when it has cooled.

Good Luck!! If you happen to be sucessful with this recipe or have any tips please comment below. I would love feedback!﻿